Michigan Basketball: 3 keys to Wolverines beating Montana

Michigan basketball will play Montana Thursday night in the NCAA Tournament, here are three keys to a Wolverines win.

It’s been a long time since Michigan basketball has played a game. By the time UM plays the Montana Grizzlies tonight, it will be a total of 11 days. That’s when the Wolverines were cutting down the nets in the Big Apple after winning the Big Ten title.

Now, Michigan basketball has to get ready to the NCAA Tournament and after the long layoff, it will take on upset-minded Montana. The Grizzlies have just two previous wins in the NCAA Tournament and the last one came back in 2006 against Nevada. The Griz have also been to the Sweet 16 just once and that’s when the tournament had only 32 teams.

Thursday’s game in Wichita will be the first in the Big Dance for the Grizzlies since 2013 when they were crushed in the opening round by Syracuse 81-34. Michigan basketball beat that same Syracuse team in the Final Four that year. Before that, Montana lost to Wisconsin in 2012, 73-49.

In the 11 previous losses by Montana in the NCAA Tournament, only two have been by single digits. So it seems Michigan will either win going away, or it could be somewhat scary.

As the week has gone on, Michigan vs Montana has some interesting dynamics. The Wolverines are a favorite by many to get to the Final Four or even win the national championship. At the same time, Montana is getting a lot hype about being a dangerous team, capable of pulling an upset.

So what gives? We will find out tonight and if the Wolverines want to win, here are three keys.